A Highland Park nonprofit announced it has distributed $5.8 million it raised to victims of the July 4 mass shooting, with the families of nine people who were killed or who suffered catastrophic injuries getting $365,000 each.
The Highland Park Community Foundation also said 10 people who were injured in the shooting received $36,000 for each night they spent in the hospital, while 47 people who were injured but not hospitalized got $19,066 apiece.
The foundation divided the final $580,025 among 17 nonprofits that serve people who were not physically injured but still suffered trauma. Those groups include Family Focus Highland Park, Highwood Public Library and Community Center and North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic.
Betsy Brint, the group’s chair, said in a statement the foundation will later share an accounting of its cash and in-kind donations. Some have already been well-publicized, including a benefit concert put on by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.
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“Donations were made from across the country and close to home,” Brint said. “We are distributing 100% of the money received to victims and the organizations that serve them.”
Authorities say Robert Crimo III opened fire from a downtown rooftop in the Lake County suburb as the annual Independence Day parade passed by, killing seven people and injuring dozens more. He has been charged with more than 100 felonies and f is being held without bond.
The Highland Park Community Foundation decided not to give grants directly to people who weren’t physically injured, a decision that has become a sore point for some who say they’ve gotten into financial distress because of the psychological trauma they endured.
An outside group called Victims First, which has advised other communities on how to raise and distribute money after mass shootings, said such victims deserve money too.
“We always urge community nonprofits to start a separate victims fund where 100% of what is collected goes directly to mass shooting victims and includes survivors present and in the line of fire,” the group said in a statement to the Tribune.
“Survivors who have witnessed the unimaginable are often left to cope with severe PTSD that can affect their ability to work and provide for their families. Denying this group of survivors direct financial assistance in their greatest time of need — and instead funding nonprofits — can have disastrous repercussions for mass shooting survivors and their communities.”
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Foundation officials said in an email they opted against cash awards for all after consulting with victims and experts.
“Given the extent of the mental health trauma to the community, the large number of physically injured and the limited funds anticipated, the committee determined that it would have been difficult to meaningfully address individual claims for mental health services and decided on a community-based approach,” they said.
“Funds distributed to nonprofit organizations directly serving mental health needs of victims and community members would maximize our resources and impact.”
The nonprofits that received awards are required to account for how they spent the money by the end of the year, the foundation said.
The foundation’s awards come on top of fundraisers some pursued through platforms such as GoFundMe, where donations sometimes reached seven figures.
The family of Irina and Kevin McCarthy, both killed at the parade, have raised more than $3 million to help care for the couple’s orphaned son. Donors have also given more than $2 million to Cooper Roberts, an 8-year-old paralyzed in the shooting.
The foundation said it has started another fund to pay for continuing mental health services and other needs, and so far has raised just over $100,000.
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman
